Thursday, October 27, 2005

I Love the Smell of Impound in the Morning.

So, yesterday, I went to my knitting class straight after work, and Booby worked and slaved until I was done, and we went home together. We were both exhausted, looking forward to a little ANTM, some leftover pizza or whatever I could scrounge up for a meal, and then falling into bed so as to achieve glorious lack-of-consciousness.

But it was not to be. Booby went out to collect whatever tomatoes we had so they wouldn't be frostbitten overnight, and noticed something not as it should be: our car was missing.

We immediately assumed "gone" meant "stolen," but I was perplexed: who would steal a '93 Saturn that needed some paint on the front end, and possibly a new trannie? We called the cops, and as it turned out, we had been towed. For blocking our own driveway. And apparently part of the alleyway through which the township recycling truck was driving yesterday, and which the garbage truck had successfully navigated the day before.

I won't say I dislike all cops, because I am sure that there are a few nice ones. I'll just say that I am resistant to their particular brand of authority. I had a bad experience. Or ten. So a swaggering meathead of a cop walking through my house at 9:30 at night? Rubs me the wrong way. The short version of the story is that we had to go to the police station (where, thankfully, Officer Fitzpatrick was not a swaggering meathead and was actually very nice), show proof of ownership of the car, and receive a release slip. Did I mention it was raining?

Then, this morning, Booby had to ride his bike out to Drexel Hill (next town over) to pick up the car. He called ahead, as instructed, but even so it took over two hours. "In the end, I begged. I begged them to please bring the car," he told me on the phone. But even begging doesn't work on Republican, ex-military repo men. Now that we're $145 (cash only, please!) poorer, I think I've learned my lesson about improper parking. I just better not be home the next time that recycling truck comes through my alley.